Anonymous asked: Hello! I was reading through the notes on your post about Black Panther and I'm confused about some things. What's wrong with non-black POC aspiring to achieve the same representation that black folks got with Black Panther?

mikeymagee:

There’s nothing wrong with wanting representation. There’s also nothing wrong with demanding good representation for an underrepresented group of people. 

The problem however, is that a lot of these discussions happen after Black people have made strides for themselves. I’m not sure if you were around during the #OscarsSoWhite controversy back in 2015/2016, but I certainly was. April Reign, a Black woman created the hashtag as a means of getting better representation for all marginalized groups (including Black people, NBPOC, LGBT, Women, differently-abled folk, etc) Now the people who spoke up the most during this were Black people (and that’s not to say there weren’t NBPOC’s. and other marginalized voices speaking up, but Black people got most of the attention (whether because we were louder, or because of hypervisibility or what have you) and Black people got most of the brunt and criticism. Saying that we’re “Just looking for things to be upset about” and “This doesn’t even really matter” and people were all up in Ms. Reign’s mentions with their racist shit. 

Once the controversy hit the big stage, suddenly more and more NBPOC were beginning to speak up, but when they did, it was only to criticize Black people for not placing ALL POC’s in the limelight. 

Look at the #NotYourMule tag on Twitter for more information (and there were plenty of think pieces on the hashtag as well). 

It’s like, when Black people advocate for something we’re always “Complaining too much and that’s why we’re behind” but once our voices and issues come to the forefront of conversations, suddenly other groups demand that we “quiet down” so they can “speak” even though there’s nothing stopping them from advocating for their own issues. 

like when MIA criticized Beyonce for not speaking about Muslim lives when she had the perfect opportunity to speak on those issues herself.

Or when Ming Na Wen only spoke up about #OscarsSoWhite when it was time to criticize Chris Rock (a Black man) for not being “inclusive enough”

Or when Gina Rodriguez kept opening her mouth to belittle Black women and the strides Black people have done in the entertainment industry (many of whom are/were Afro-Latinas)  

Or when Aziz Ansari in that episode of Master of None pretty much threw shade a black people because “We have Beyonce and other Black people to advocate for our issues while Asians don’t”

Or when Salma Hayek spoke over Jessica Williams when she was trying to talk about her experiences being a Black woman. 

Or every Black history month when I, and many other people I follow/know have to explain that 1. There are other months that celebrate the history of non-white people and 2: No, it’s not Black people’s fault that they may not get as much attention as BHM.

I remember when Aquaman was first making the rounds on the Twitter verse and there were plenty of people pretty much demanding that Black people show up for Aquaman the same way we did for Black Panther. There seems to be an undercurrent of entitlement to our labor, our voices,  our movements, and everything else we do.     

And these are just a few examples. They only ever seem to find their voices when Black people are making headway for out own issues (and again, that’s not to say ALL NBPOC do this, but enough do that it is a sticking point for a lot of Black people.) 

I’ll even give you another example. I’m a gay man, and in the 2000′s the biggest phrase for the LGBT movement was “Gay is the New Black” as if Black people had “had their turn” and needed to step aside and let “The New Minority” take the spotlight. And what that did was not only appropriate Black Civil Rights iconography, but also erased Black Queers (like myself) and made it seem like we didn’t deal with both antiblack racism and homophobia at the same time. People are more than happy to take our history and our iconography to make strides for themselves, while also erasing and ignoring Black people they come in contact with. Why? 

I’m all for solidarity. I’m all for working together so that everyone can have a voice and good representation, but I am not here for other groups trying to make Black people feel guilty for trying and making strides for our community. 

And Crazy Rich Asians, Aquaman and Coco all did very well in the Box Office, and yet I don’t see any think pieces demanding that we have a “Mexican Aquaman” or a “Polynesian Crazy Rich Asians”  or an “Asian Coco”. And why should we? Each of those films were beautiful in how they portrayed their varying cultures  and no one is saying “We need a Non-Asian/Non-Mexican/Non-Polynesian” version of these narratives, but for some reason that’s what everyone seems to say whenever we get a Black film.

Yes, I want inclusion and diversity in all facets of our entertainment but I’m sick of being made to feel guilty about taking pride in seeing how wonderful and beautiful Black people can be and are. 

insanelycoolish:

alexaloraetheris:

Reasons I believe my friend is secretly some kind of deity

1) First time we spoke was a week after the beggining of freshman year she summed up my entire character and most of the events of my life Sherlock style. I asked her how the hell she knew all that. She just shrugged and said she figured out our entire class already.

2) The one time we had religion class instead of ethics she listened to the teacher for a few minutes, laughed and told me:

“Humans have wished to be gods so much they’ve forgotten they have to ability to create them. Imagination has truly suffered from this ‘monotheism’ stuff.”

I was confused and asked her if she was an atheist. She rolled her eyes and said:

“Oh I believe in god alright. I just don’t think the bastard deserves to be worshipped.”

3) Out of nowhere she gave me this advice:

“The only truth a liar ever told was that lies weren’t going to save you. Don’t become the liar who has to pass that wisdom on, because they speak from experience.”

4) To this day, she has one of those old-timey phones with buttons she only uses to ocassionally call someone. When I asked her why she never got a smartphone she got pouty:

“I hate social media. On Facebook they talk a lot but never say anything. If I wanted to listen to people moan about their problems and ask for help they don’t expect I’d listen to their prayers.” (Notice the choice of words)

5) I noticed she was stiff and I offered her a massage since I’m really good at it but when i started kneading her back I swear to this day those were not muscles I felt. I asked her what she did to turn her muscles into rocks covered with a thin layer of skin and she kinda froze then shrugged and said she was just really, really stiff. My hands hurt after ten minutes when I can usually go for an hour. Next time I offered she seemed surprised and laughed. She still has rocks for muscles.

6) We were having a debate over the way neural pathways are formed (I study biology and she forensics) and I jokingly asked if I could have her brain for study when she dies. She laughed.

“Sure, if you find a way to kill me you can have it. I’m actually curious what you’re gonna find.”

7) One time she was tired and miserable and I tried to comfort her. We both have really dark sense of humor so I told her she could scare the dead out of their graves with that glare. She told me the dead can’t come back and I rolled my eyes and said ‘obviously’ but she continued:

“When you die you descend to the underworld with nothing to lose. To keep you, they give you something to lose. When you want to return, they will demand it back. That’s why nobody ever leaves. The only way out is to never enter.”

8) One day she just came up to me with a disappointed look on her face. When I asked her what was wrong she was quiet for a few seconds and then just told me:

“Betrayals committed in good intentions are still damning. Just… keep that in mind.” Then she left and didn’t speak to me for three days. I still don’t know what she meant but even three years later I haven’t forgotten it.

9) We were casually sitting on a bench when, out of nowhere, she asked me: “Is it just me or have humans gotten dumber? Or have they always been this stupid and I just haven’t been paying attention?”

10) She asked me if I ever wondered what it was like to die. I said no but told her I would tell her when I found out. I meant it as a ghost joke but she smiled at me and said:

“Great. I’ll wait for you to come back. Maybe you’ll even remember me.”

In conclusion, she is some kind of low-key god and she lost her faith in humanity even before we lost our faith in her but she’s stuck with us because immortality is a bitch.

P.S. I just remembered her name is a variation on ‘Eve’. Maybe I should reconsider my atheist status?!

She totally sounds like a goddess from one of Rick Riordan’s novels honestly. I kinda love her. If you have more stories, update us, cause I love this stuff. 

(via anbich)